Unmasking the Golden Calf
Right in the middle of the second half of the book of Exodus the story of the sin of the golden calf is told:
When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: "Come on! Make us gods that will go before us, because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt we don't know what has become of him."[1]
That a mere forty days after the people heard the ten commandments directly from G-d, they created an idol and violated the first two of the ten commandments, tells us that idol worship had a powerful allure upon the imagination of the people. Indeed for the next thousand years, the story of the Jewish people is a recurring one, relapsing to idol worship.
Idol worship in it’s more refined and abstract form, is still very much a spiritual threat. Specifically when we seek a relationship with G-d, when we stand at our figurative Sinai, there is a risk that we too can fall prey to the spell of the golden calf.
The root of all idol worship is the belief in duality. The belief that there is something, anything, that has a power independent of G-d’s all inclusive unity.
The perspective that the infinite G-d is regulated exclusively to the domain of the spirit, to the moments when we pursue abstraction, religion and philosophy, is Idol worship in its more subtle form. The belief that G-d is disconnected from the finite, from the earthly and from the physical, is the belief that there is something independent and disconnected from G-d.
The Torah tells us that Aaron made an “Eigel Masecha” (עגל מסכה) which usually translates as “molten calf”. Yet the word “Masecha” also means a mask. For that is precisely the function of the idol, to direct our attention to the concealment of nature rather than to the Divine presence beneath the mask.
This explains why the story of the golden calf and its aftermath is sandwiched between the four portions that discuss the construction of the Mishkan, the sanctuary that the Jews were commanded to build in the desert. The construction of the Mishkan is the antidote to the story of the golden calf. The four portions tell a story that, if internalized, will protect us against the mistake made by the creators of the golden calf. It tells that we are called upon to make a home for G-d on this earth, and that we do so with our material possessions.[2]
The Mishkan teaches that G-d must be found not only in the hall of study but also in the marketplace. Not only when we pray but also when we eat. The apparent dichotomy between the physical and spiritual, body and soul, heaven and earth create not duality but oneness, not conflict but harmony.
The second half of the book of Exodus builds upon and expands the message of the first half of the book. The first half of the book tells of G-d’s awesome, supernatural power. We read about the great miracles that shatter the natural order. We encounter G-d in moments of revelation. Yet, the second half of the book tells a story that, in some ways, is far more profound: beneath the mask of duality and separation lies unity and harmony. When we use our material possessions to fulfill the will of G-d, we are creating a home for him within the concealment of nature.
This is also the theme of the holiday of Purim (which occurs during the week of, or in proximity to, the reading of the story of golden calf). Purim is the sole Jewish holiday that celebrates an event that occurred while the Jews were in exile, while they were subject to the rule of a foreign king. G-d’s name as well as supernatural miracles are absent from the scroll of Esther, the book that chronicles the story. While the events of Passover are far more miraculous than the events of Purim, the story of Purim is no less profound.[3]
Purim teaches that even where we see nothing but darkness, G-d is very much present.
On Purim the custom is to dress up in a costume. The idea is to recognize that what is obvious to the eye is no more than a mask. We dress up so that we become aware of the presence of G-d beneath the mask of nature. Purim teaches us not to be distracted by the masquerade, but rather to look beneath the mask, and sense is oneness.
[1] Exodus 32:1.
[2] Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe. Lekutei Sichos Vayakhel vol. 3.
[3] See Lekutey Sichos Purim, vol. 6.